Spring is the Time to Bloom

As we have settled into a new year, a new home, a new city, I definitely have reflected more than once on the practical needs of life and the things that really make me happy. For its part, the move south is a testament to this - and I find myself uniquely capable on many fronts in my life to tackle the imbalance.

One of the imbalances that has been far out of whack for too long has been my work / life balance.

With mixed emotions, I gave my resignation today, with a new job pending start on the Monday after my birthday. It would be impossible to detail all of the ways my time at TraceLink shaped and helped grow me as both a designer and a leader, but suffice it to say that my experience there has provided so much foundation to who I am professionally, as well as given me motivation of what I might seek to build towards.

In many ways I wish I didn't have to leave, but the time is right to move on and try my skills elsewhere. The endeavor is always to grow, always to learn.

As somebody who grew up always looking to the future, planning for better, believing in growth…It has been a strange practice of slowdown to live in the now. I've been worried about everybody but me for a really long time in the role I'm at, about taking something solid I've been building for years and choosing to pass on it... Choosing to explore avenues of growth elsewhere.

I admit that even after accepting the new position my brain has teased me with questions of my adequacy - impostor syndrome to the nines! A serendipitous social media overlap provided me with an opportunity this afternoon to chat with a blossoming designer, someone joining the field and looking to explore something new altogether.

Speaking as one who's been in the field for a few decades now (decades, that’s right) it was exactly the kind of conversation I didn't know I was looking for.

Getting to share what I know, offer directions and insight, even just listening to this designer go on about what is making them enthusiastic and hearing them get excited by topics we connected during the conversation… If this is any segue into my new rule, it was a wonderful moment of recognition that this is what I want to do for my next steps, and the learning opportunities I can expect are going to show me a whole different side of people and humanity. (A “thank you” to this designer, who helped me without even knowing it!)

Anyway, I don't want to say too much, but stay tuned for a bigger update once I start the new gig!